Arthur Chu Jeopardy Genuis: Contestant Got Daily Double Questions Strategy Online
Jeopardy! contestant Arthur Chu has received criticism from the shows' fans for his controversial game-winning strategy. The contestant, however, says he is just a clever Google navigator trying to support his family.
Chu is an insurance compliance worker. At night, he works to be an actor. With such humble beginnings, how did Chu crack the Jeopardy code?
"...the first thing I did when I found out I was going to be on Jeopardy! was sit down at my computer and literally Google 'Jeopardy! strategy' and see what came up," Chu told Fox News. "...there are these communities of people like the J! Archive which has fans writing down the clues and the results from every game of Jeopardy! in history. Or the J! Board, which has some of the best champions and most devoted fans in Jeopardy! history sitting down to discuss strategy and game play."
Chu is now being called the "Jeopardy! Jerk" for his unconventional strategy. He hunts for the Jeopardy Daily Doubles, which are usually somewhere in board's last two rows, instead of starting from the easier questions and working his way down. The 30-year-old also jumps around the board a lot in order to confuse his opponents.
The contestant has won $102,800 in four appearances on the game show and makes his next appearance on Feb. 24.
"I can understand it's less pleasant to watch, but the producers weren't paying me to make the show pleasant to watch," Chu explained to ABCNews. "If you were playing for fun, you could talk about poor sportsmanship, but within the rules, it's about winning. If you don't like it, change the rules."
The Cleveland native says his strategy gained so much attention because he would "talk back to the haters" via Twitter while his episodes were airing. In the end, however, Chu isn't on Jeopardy! to ruffle viewers' feathers, but instead to help his family.
"Ultimately, I have myself and my wife and our future family to think about, and I think it's absolutely crazy that people would think it's reasonable to ask me to give up a chance at winning tens of thousands of dollars -- life changing money, even after taxes -- because some people on the Internet think it makes the game unpleasant to watch," he said.